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Although I`m more of a bodger compared to other more skillful modellers,....in case anybody is interested here is the progress on my Revell Hurricane so far;

First off, here is the Grey Matter Figures resin conversion set,.....it was to have been a Mk.IId but I decided to build it as a Mk.IIb instead and save the cannons for another day;

I set to whittling away one night while watching a film and before I knew it I had sanded all of the rivets away, re scribed the parts, cut the Revell fuselage down fixed it together, attached the upper wing parts and fitted the replacement resin nose section! Pity the break line isn`t along a panel line but with careful cutting, filling and sanding it can be disguised,....hopefully!;

The Grey Matter Figures cockpit is excellent and much better than the kit parts, so this was obtained as well. It could be fitted from below, which is why the lower wings were not fitted yet and here is the cockpit before;

and after,...ready for fitting, although I still have to do some detail painting, especially the brass firing button on the control column;

Here is the cockpit with the main kit parts;

Once the cockpit was in place the lower wings were fitted, along with the Vokes filter and the radiator. A section of armour plating was fitted behind the pilots head rest, made from plastic card;

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Next update,......painting has begun and having decided that the model was going to be a Mk.IIb and not a Mk.IIa,....the extra gun bay doors were scribed into the outer wings with two new gun ports drilled out. Aeromaster Dark Earth was brushed on using a nice wide brush and some of the detail parts can also be seen here too, including a gun sight from the spares box, left over Rotol blades from the PCM Hurri kit which may replace the resin blades, the vacformed canopy and a dash cover made from plastic card;

Having completed the first colour,.....the first coat of Dark Green has been applied for the disruptive camouflage, again using an old bottle of Aeromaster acrylic and a hairy stick;

And the 2nd coat,....plus the spinner has been painted white,.....any guesses as to the scheme that I`ve chosen?;

The spinner might give it away here, with its first coats of paint applied ....painting is now finished on the main airfrrame with the application of Aeromaster Finnish Light Blue to represent British Sky Blue, as applied to the majority of Hurricane`s sent overseas. The spinner ;

Thats everything up to date for now,......I`m going to have a go at hand painting some nose art onto the model but if it is a disaster I have a fall back plan to obliterate it and choose another aircraft from the same unit!

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No its taken all week to get this far mate,.....I started it after I finished my PCM Hurri Mk.I in desert markings. It was going to be a Malta based Mk.IIa or b but I struggled finding decals for the codes so it is going to be a West African 128 Sqn aircraft instead. I`m going to have a go at brush painting the nose art of Billy Drakes BD897, WG-M `Zut' but if I cock it up I`ll cover it up and do another sqn aircraft! Wish me luck,

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Well the latest update isn`t brilliant but consider the nose art a real `work in progress' and this is the first coat of paint after all! After the paint dries I`ll make parts of the artwork smaller by filling it in using Dark Green and then apply the second coat of white;

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Here is the latest update,........the Humbrol 35 gloss varnish (from a large tin, rather than a bottle or small tin as I feel that it settles better,..nice and tight!) has been brushed on ready for the decals, the vacuformed canopy has been cut out and dry fitted to the model while the framework is being slowly built up a coat at a time. The nose art is steadily taking shape too;

This is a close up of the nose art,....still very untidy yet but hopefully I`ve now got it down to an approximation of the right size,.....it needs to be coloured in and lots of tidying up yet,......please don`t expect it look exactly like the real thing mind you,..as you`ll be disappointed!;

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The canopy comes with the Grey Matter conversion set as the Revell canopy is too bulbous and very thick. Saying that I`m having a go at another Revell Hurri straight from the box to see how it turns out and I`ve managed to sand the windscreen to a more accurate shape.

The canopy comes with the Grey Matter conversion set as the Revell canopy is too bulbous and very thick. Saying that I`m having a go at another Revell Hurri straight from the box to see how it turns out and I`ve managed to sand the windscreen to a more accurate shape.

Tony

That clears that one up, when I built my Revell Hurricane I looked everywhere for a replacement canopy but could not find one.

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Thanks folks,.........I`ll try and tidy up the nose art today before having a week long break for family days ou, at least we`ve got the weather for it!.

Jason- yes mate all freehand painting, I don`t really go in for masks, not even for canopies unless they are very complicated because the paint always creeps under the tape when brush painting! I use a wooden toothpick to tidy up any overpainting on the canopy after the paint has dried.

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Latest Update,.....I`ve not managed to get the decals on yet but the nose art is as good as I can get it so I`m calling it done! Not brilliant by any shades of the imagination but I`m OK with it;

I`ll try and get most of the decals on tonight although the Techmod sheet from Hannants has still not arrived and I need that for my under wing roundels! If I have time in the morning I`ll try and post some more pics,

Cheers for now,

Tony

PS- Just noticed that the surface of the resin nose looks rather rough in the close up photo but it doesn`t look half as bad in reality and the matt coat shouldhopefully sort that out?

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Excellent work as always sir - I'm in envy of your brush-painting skills. Can I ask how you avoid building up a raised ridge of paint when masking tape is used?

Hello,

Just spotted your query,.....sorry if I`m late but I`ve been away! I don`t really use much masking tape as I hand brush and never use masks for camouflage patterns,....however to get straight lines such as those between the upper and lower surfaces,... I do use tape and where there is a little burr I simply (but carefully) sand it flat. When hand brushing in general I tend to lightly sand in between coats to keep the surface nice and flat, hope this helps?

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Thank you to those who have been following this build and who have posted comments,......your interest helps me make that little extra effort that I might not make otherwise!

Here is another update;

Almost finished now,.....the undercarriage is on and as the matt varnish was a little dodgy in parts and clouded up a bit parts of the tail and propeller spinner have received a further coat of paint to tidy then up;

The gun sight is in place, the canopy is almost ready to be attached and I have to add the Sutton Harness to the pilots seat plus the clear light covers need to be attached (although one of the landing light covers is currently residing with the carpet monster!) and few other jobs including adding the outboard machine guns which protrude from the wing on the real aircraft. Not far to go now,